The owners of Sauk Trail on 17 closed the business on Saturday, March 22.(Marshall V. King/The Elkhart Truth)Sauk Trail offered barbecue, but is closed for good.(Marshall V. King)Sauk Trail on 17 closed for good after business on Saturday, March 22.(Marshall V. King)

"We are closed," said co-owner and manager Ray Stults. "It really got down to the three partners all doing different things. I got to the point I didn't want to do it anymore."

They told their 25 or so employees this weekend that after seven years in the restaurant business, this restaurant was closing.

The building at 56039 Parkway Ave. started as Indigo on 17 seven years ago. In late 2010, the owners merged with Marc Lancaster to form Sauk Trail on 17. The opening was highly anticipated and the flood of business overwhelmed the restaurant, but over time the restaurant hit its stride. Indigo on 17 was fine dining, but Sauk Trail on 17 was a smokehouse that focused on barbecue.

Business had been pretty good the past several weeks, Stults said. But over breakfast Saturday morning, he and son Lindsey Stults and Dan Valhala decided to shut it down. They looked for someone to run it for them, but couldn't find someone, according to Ray Stults.

Employees and vendors will be paid. Some employees already have other jobs, he said. And the owners are talking with an attorney on how to handle gift cards customers may still have. More information on that may be released in the coming days, he said.